AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn't know if it was the ship or us which shook for a moment.
"Slek?" I asked slowly.
"Yes, Edie?" He quirked an eyebrow at me.
"Do ships of this age have a self-destruct?"
"Ummm. Yes. Yes they do."
"Shit."
The pod shook again, but this time I was sure it was only us.
"I, once again, have a bad feeling about this," I said.
"Me too," Danec agreed.
We approached the space doors and stopped. Like the last time, they took their time in opening. The longer it took, the more convinced I was we'd have an army of newly minted Iri chasing us.
"Danec, are the Iri dead?" I asked.
"No, they're under the control of the nanobots. From what I've read, they can still think for themselves, they just can't go against the nanotbot's programming."
"I see," I said. "I would hate to be at the start of the zombie apocalypse."
Slek gave me a funny look, but Danec smiled briefly. Apparently I needed to educate Slek on movies from Earth.
The space doors finally slid open on the beautiful expanse of space and the glittering stars.
The relief was short lived.
Between us and the glittering stars, something else glittered. It trickled down the side of the window, then moved to the edge as though seeking a way in.
"We have company," I said loudly. I shoved Danec and Slek toward the middle of the pod and faced the window. "I guess they won't suffocate in space?"
"No," Slek replied. "But we will need to get them off somehow."
"An interstellar car wash isn't a thing, I suppose?" I asked.
"No," Danec replied. "And we can't fly too close to the sun and burn them off. And we can't—"
Together we said, "Throw them out the airlock."
I would have laughed. Maybe later I will. Not now.
"What kills them?" I asked.
"Time," Slek replied slowly. "They'll power down if they don't find a host."
"How long?" Danec asked.
"Uhhh. About three weeks," Slek said regretfully.
"We don't have three weeks." J'avet had stepped out of the cockpit to listen. "We have maybe five days of oxygen. No more."
"I said about three," Slek muttered, "It could be less."
"Less than five days?" I asked.
